News
Stay up-to-date with the latest news from across Thailand and beyond with The Thaiger. Our dedicated team brings you breaking news, in-depth analysis, and exclusive stories from this stunning part of the world, covering a diverse range of topics, including local politics, business, culture, and tourism. Keep yourself informed about the Kingdom’s rich history, stunning landscapes, and thriving expat communities, as well as updates on events, attractions, and transportation.
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Sponsored 5 hidden healthcare costs in Thailand and how to avoid them
Thailand's healthcare system is affordable and supported by the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) scheme, offering essential services to most citizens. However, hidden healthcare costs can surprise patients and lead to unexpected expenses. These include specialist fees, insurance gaps, emergency services,...
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DSI to probe alleged Phuket national park, Kamala intrusions
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community DSI to probe alleged Phuket national park, Kamala intrusions The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Department of Special Investigation’s Special Case Committee yesterday agreed to take up the Sirinat National Park and Kamala Forest Reserve encroachment cases in Phuket after they allegedly caused 50 billion…
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Asian Beach Games: Thailand lifts gold ahead of opening ceremony tonight
PHUKET: The 4th Asian Beach Games continued in Phuket today, with three gold medals up for grabs, ahead of the official opening ceremony at Saphan Hin tonight. Thailand beat Kuwait to win gold in flag football at the Saphan Hin Sports Center this morning, while two other gold medals were at stake in the men’s and women’s team beach woodball…
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Phuket high-voltage cable incinerates motorbikes
PHUKET: A high-voltage power cable set motorbikes ablaze in front of a Phuket SuperCheap store last night after the overhead transformer it was connected to exploded. One end of the three-inch-thick power cable, carrying 33,000 volts, connected with the ground and set fire to two motorbikes parked in front of the Phuket Villa 5 branch on Chao Fa West Road.…
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Krabi parents demand school director dismissal after kindergarten assistants sacked
PHUKET: Teachers at Baan Koh Klang School in Khlong Prasong, Krabi, and hundreds of parents have lashed out against the summary dismissal of two teachers’ assistants at the school’s kindergarten, and called for the director herself to be sacked. School Director Vanischa Srichai dismissed Haruethai Kohklang and Aroonprapa Klongruow on Tuesday. “My daughter came home and told me that she…
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B682bn lost to rice scheme, B1.1trn in a decade
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community B682bn lost to rice scheme, B1.1trn in a decade The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Rice-pledging programmes have recorded an accumulated loss of Bt682 billion over the past decade, against total spending of as much as Bt1.1 trillion, the Finance Ministry disclosed yesterday. The figures cover…
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Britain to introduce tough new foreign fighter laws
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Britain to introduce tough new foreign fighter laws Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: British nationals who become foreign fighters abroad could be prevented from returning home under tough new laws to deal with jihadists fighting in conflicts like Iraq and Syria, British Prime Minister David Cameron…
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Asian Beach Games: Thailand scores two gold in ju-jitsu
PHUKET: Thailand captured superb form to win two gold medals in the ju-jitsu competition at the 4th Asian Beach Games at Saphan Hin, near Phuket Town, yesterday. The first gold came from women’s martial art duo Suphawadee Kaeosrasaen and Kunsatri Kumsroi in their impressive 36-33 win over Pakistan’s Sundus Salam Khan and Maryam 36-33 in the final. Areewan Chansri and…
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Phuket police take down gang of shoplifting youngsters
PHUKET: Phuket police arrested a gang of seven, mostly teenagers, last night for shoplifting at several convenience stores in the Chalong and Rawai areas over the last month. The group, which called themselves noo pee, or ghost rat, targeted four convenience stores: Big One Rawai branch, SuperCheap Rawai, SuperCheap Saiyuan and Tesco Lotus on Wiset Road in Rawai. “The gang…
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Phuket police charge man with attempted rape of Australian tourist
PHUKET: Police have charged a man for the alleged attempted rape of an Australian tourist at a resort on Koh Maphrao, an island off the east coast of Phuket. “We have the man in custody. He surrendered to police after we sent many officers to the island after the woman reported the incident,” said Capt Nucharee Longkaew of the Phuket…
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Bangkok Hospital Phuket marketing manager dies in car crash
PHUKET: The marketing manager of Bangkok Hospital Phuket was found dead in her car after she slammed into a power pole heading southbound on Thepkrasattri Road last night. Phuket City Police officers and Kusoldharm Foundation rescue workers found Nicha Chiwangkul, 46, from Surat Thani, pinned behind the wheel of her Honda Civic about 30 meters from the Bang Ku Intersection…
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ATM system change to halt transactions for two hours
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community ATM system change to halt transactions for two hours The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The Bank of Thailand announced today that commercial bank customers would be unable to conduct transactions with a different bank or with overseas banks through ATM machines for a short period…
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Ex-Democrat MP sentenced to death
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Ex-Democrat MP sentenced to death The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Former Democrat MP Khanchit Tabsuwan has received a death sentence for killing a prominent local politician in Samut Sakhon province in late 2011. The Samut Sakhon Provincial Court convicted Khanchit and sentenced him to death…
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Video Report: BISP Soccer 7s get serious
PHUKET: There are people out there who complain that kids nowadays spend all their free time in front of the TV, on the Internet or playing gaming consoles. A visit to the British International School Phuket (BISP) grounds during the recent Soccer 7s tournament would surely prove those people wrong. With over 1,300 competitors and teams flocking to the island…
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Uber taps Phuket taxi cash flow
PHUKET: Until the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) made historic efforts to sweep Phuket clear of local taxi mafias that had long tainted the island’s international reputation, there were rarely rays of hope for the island’s public transportation system. However, this week, another major player has stepped up to provide the millions of tourists that holiday in Phuket,…
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Asian Beach Games: Turkmenistan captures first gold
PHUKET: Babamuratova Gulbadam from Turkmenistan captured the first gold of the 4th Asian Beach Games after beating Kazakhstan’s Leila Konuspayeva 4-0 in the final showdown of the women’s 52kg Sambo yesterday. Supatra Nanong became the first Thai athlete to win a medal at the Phuket Games, winning bronze in the sambo women’s 72kg competition following her exceptional 4-0 win over…
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Animal protection law finally passed
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Animal protection law finally passed The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Under a newly passed law, eating live animals, feeding mammals to predators without a reason or having sex with animals will result in a year in prison and/or a maximum fine of Bt20,000. The National…
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Ebola death toll tops 5,000; Mali quarantines 90
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Ebola death toll tops 5,000; Mali quarantines 90 Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The death of a nurse in Mali from Ebola promoted on Wednesday the quarantine of more than 90 people in the West African country’s capital, as the World Health Organization said the disease…
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Myanmar workers wanted for devastating cooking accident
PHUKET: Police are searching for a group of Myanmar workers whose rented house was gutted by fire this afternoon in a blaze that is believed to have started in a cooking accident. The fire broke out at the rented abode, located in a worker’s camp in Soi Patchanee, Rassada, at about 1:10pm. “Two fire trucks from Rassada Municipality were called…
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Jilted Patong medium shoots man in head for flirting
PHUKET: A man is in the intensive-care unit (ICU) at Patong Hospital after being shot in the head yesterday for allegedly flirting with the girlfriend of a jealous spirit medium who lived on the same street. Patong Police arrested Bundit Pramualsil, 36, from Phuket, while he was riding his motorbike on a road near Tri Trang Beach, south of Patong,…
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Asian Beach Games: Twelve gold medals up for grabs on first day
PHUKET: The curtain quietly rose on the 4th Asian Beach Games in Phuket today, with the gold-medal hunt starting at 9am in four sporting events: sambo, jujitsu, flag football and squash. The flag football competition is being contested at the Saphan Hin Sports Center. Sambo is being fought out at Karon Beach, featuring the 52kg, 82kg, 64kg, 68kg and 100kg…
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10 key Rohingya traffickers under surveillance
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community 10 key Rohingya traffickers under surveillance The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: More than 10 big agents have allegedly been smuggling Rohingya people from Myanmar to a third country, an informed source has revealed. The source, who is a member of an anti-human trafficking team, said…
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Immigration detainees vanish from Songkhla custody
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Immigration detainees vanish from Songkhla custody The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: A large number of people from an unknown origin who had been in civilian custody in Songkhla province since March have gone missing, the chief of the provincial social development and human security office…
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Thousands protest over slaying of student
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Thousands protest over slaying of student The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: some 4,000 students and lecturers from Princess of Naradhiwas University (PNU) rallied in Narathiwat’s Muang district yesterday morning in protest against violence in the region that claimed the life of a young schoolmate. The…
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Yingluck impeachment hearing deferred until November 28
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Yingluck impeachment hearing deferred until November 28 The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: The National Legislative Assembly whip resolved yesterday to defer impeachment proceedings against ex-PM Yingluck Shinawatra till November 28 over the rice-pledging scheme because she had not yet looked into the documents or prepared…
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Video Report: Phuket’s Beach Police roll into action
PHUKET: Provincial Police Commander Patchara Boonyasit today unveiled the latest in Phuket law enforcement: the Beach Police, resplendent in their polo shirt and shorts uniform, with sidearms, and mounted on their patrol bicycles. “Phuket is a famous tourist destination that has many beautiful beaches and we want to ensure people’s safety while they are on our beaches,” he said. “Safety…
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Patong bar owners defer “anti-extortion strike’, appeal to Phuket Governor
PHUKET: Bar owners in Patong, Phuket’s premier resort town, have gone back on a vow to close their doors for three days in protest of corruption and recent orders to close down at 2am, as it would cost them too much in could-be profits. A letter that was passed among bar owners in Soi Bangla and elsewhere in Patong stated…
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Rohingya land north of Phuket, search begins for missing boats
PHUKET: Police are calling for all residents along the Andaman coast to report any sightings of two boats flying Thai flags that are believed to be trafficking refugees, including many Rohingya fleeing Myanmar. The call to report any sightings of the boats follows police taking into custody 299 refugees at Koh Nok, off the Ranong coast, on Saturday. The boat,…
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Asian Beach Games ceremonial flame arrives in Phuket
PHUKET: A special ceremony was held yesterday in Phuket Town to display and honor a ceremonial flame provided by HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej for good luck during the Asian Beach Games, which begin on Friday. The flame, called fai phra ruek, arrived at Phuket International Airport at about 3:30pm and was displayed on a float that paraded to Saphan Hin,…
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Phuket Yachting: ACYC race series goes down to the wire
PHUKET: What a difference a couple of weeks make. After the light winds of the previous two Ao Chalong Yacht Club’s (ACYC) race series, this past Sunday was wet and windy. The happy result was lots of smiling, soaked sailors returning to the clubhouse absolutely over the moon that they had a serious sailing breeze of 20-plus knots to compete…
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AirAsia joins Interpol’s I-Checkit campaign against using stolen passports
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community AirAsia joins Interpol’s I-Checkit campaign against using stolen passports Reuters / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: nterpol has agreed to expand its I-Checkit initiative under the Turn Back Crime campaign to other businesses after its cooperation with AirAsia, Asia’s largest budget airline, proved successful. Commencing in June, the…
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